March 2008 Issue

Faculty Notebook

Garnett Receives National Teaching Honor

Austin College Professor Emeritus of Economics Hugh Garnett has been named a winner of the Acton Foundation’s national award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education. Garnett is one of 27 teachers nationally to receive this honor. All winners were initially nominated by students and then judged by a panel of master entrepreneurship teachers at Acton. In nominating Garnett, one student wrote, “Professor Garnett pushes his students to understand economic outcomes in the real world from theory and reasoning.” Announcing the award, Acton Foundation President Rick O’Donnell said, “Great teachers change lives by inspiring students to recognize their gifts and to learn how to use them to pursue a worthy dream. Hugh Garnett is one such great teacher.”

Garnett joined the Austin College faculty in 1981 and in 1990 was named to the Clara R. and Leo F. Corrigan, Sr., Chair of Economics and Business Administration. He received the rank of professor emeritus of economics upon his retirement from teaching in 2003.

“As a teacher, Hugh had a profound effect on many of our economics and business administration students,” said Michael Imhoff, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the faculty at Austin College. “In traveling the country I am struck by the number of graduates who are eager to tell me of the impact Hugh Garnett made in their professional development.”

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Two Faculty Members Receive Honors From Community

Janet Lowry, associate professor of sociology, received the Sherman/Grayson County League of Women Voters Citizen of the Year Award in February for her work within the organization and her dedication and service to the citizens of Grayson County. She was similarly honored in August 2007 with the Grayson County NAACP Recognition Award for Political Action.

“When I moved to Texas to teach at Austin College in 1983, I also joined the League of Women Voters on the advice of a colleague in New York who taught me how the organization studies issues before reaching positions to advocate at the local, state, and national level,” Lowry said. “The League never endorses candidates, but prides itself on supplying information to voters on important questions and answers from the candidates so that voters can make informed choices. That serious and bipartisan approach is very appealing to me and usually needs a good social scientist, so it was a natural fit. After attending city council meetings as a League observer corps member and petitioning the neighborhood to get stop and yield signs installed on streets beside Grand Avenue, I was invited to help staff the polling place in precinct 5. I learned the system of primary and general elections in Texas and have been trying to encourage student participation ever since.”

Julia Shahid, associate professor of education, was recognized as the Women of Visionary Influence (WOVI) 2007 Education Mentor of the Year at the WOVI annual meeting last fall. Founded in 2001, WOVI is an organization of women offering mentoring, education, and leadership. The organization has chapters in Addison, Austin, Frisco, north Dallas, and Sherman. Shahid works closely with students in education courses and with those from her Communication/Inquiry course. “I think that mentoring is very important and one of the most satisfying aspects of my life has been to “grow” people,” Shahid said. “It is so rewarding to help young people recognize their gifts and talents and then to assist them as they move into areas that match those special strengths.  Certainly part of my role as a mentor is to empower others to be the best that they can be.”

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David Griffith

Mark Smith

Professional Activities

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Jeff Czajkowski, assistant professor of economics, presented his hurricane evacuation research at Texas A&M and again at the Southern Economic Association annual meeting in New Orleans in November 2007. He was invited to Texas A&M by its Agricultural Economics Department and the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center. Czajkowski has been awarded a one-year research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) via Florida International University's International Hurricane Research Center to continue this research.

David Griffith, associate professor of business administration, and assistant professor Bryan McKinney of Ouachita Baptist University presented a paper, “Can Heather Gillette Save YouTube: Internet Service Providers and Copyright Liability,” at the International Association for Computer Information Systems annual conference in Vancouver, Canada, in October 2007. The paper was subsequently published in Issues in Information Systems. 

Janet Lowry, associate professor of sociology, is program chair and president elect for the Southwestern Sociological Association and is preparing for the organization’s March meeting in Las Vegas. More than 300 individuals will present over 80 paper and poster presentations, including Maleeha Akhtar ’09 presenting research on HIV/AIDS in India.

Gerald Middents, professor emeritus of psychology, has written a book, Bridging Fear & Peace: From Bullying to Doing Justice, published in 2007. The book, in addressing the dynamics of enemy-making and peace-making, investigates why aggressive persons, leaders, and nations make enemies and then are reluctant to let go of their fear-mongering. The book examines domestic violence, sexual abuse, international wars, and global flashpoints, psychologically explaining cycles of violence and how to interrupt them.

Don Rodgers, assistant professor of political science, presented the paper “Democracy and Legitimacy: The False Promise of Globalization” at a conference, “Can Democracy Survive Globalization? Lessons from Taiwan,” in December 2007 at the Elliott School of Government at George Washington University (GWU). Bob Dole was the keynote speaker for the event, hosted by the GWU Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The GWU Elliott School of Government, The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, and the Formosa Foundation. In January, Rodgers participated in a roundtable conference, “The 2008 Legislative Election: A New Beginning of a Two-Party System in Taiwan?” The meeting was hosted by the London School of Economics’ Asia Research Centre and Taiwan's Institute for National Policy Research, and held in Taipei, Taiwan. Rodgers and many of the other scholars attending were in Taiwan to observe the elections.

SCIENCES

Lance Barton, assistant professor of biology, co-wrote an article, “REGγ Proteasome Activator Is Involved in the Maintenance of Chromosomal Stability,” in collaboration with researchers at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan, Italy, that was published in the February 15 issue of the journal Cell Cycle. In November 2007, Barton traveled to Chicago to attend the Annual Autumn Immunology Conference, where several of his students presented their research. Barton served as a workshop chair for the immune homeostasis and tolerance section of the meeting.

Karla McCain, assistant professor of chemistry, attended the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies meeting in October 2007 and received an outstanding poster award for her research presentation “Using FT-IR and UV-vis Light Scattering to Examine the Effect of Tail Length on the Enthalpy of Bisurea Organogel Melting.” Research for this project was conducted with Cara Barnes ’09, Aaron Pierce ’07, Emily Kuo ’10, Paul Frederick ’10, and Andrew Carr, associate professor of chemistry.

HUMANITIES

Marsha McCoy, visiting assistant professor of Latin, traveled to Scotland in September 2007 to attend the international conference “100 Years of Solitude: Roman Colonies in the First Century of Their Foundation,” where she presented the paper “100 Years of Gauls: Narbo Martius, Roman Coinage, and Gallic-Roman Interaction in the Late Roman Republic.” She also attended the Classical Association of the Atlantic States in Washington, D.C., in October, where she organized a panel, “Petronius’ Satyrica: Readings, Rationales, Reception,” and presented, as a member of the panel, a paper, “Bakhtin and Petronius’ Satyrica.” She is preparing for publication an edited volume of papers from the panel.

Mark Smith, professor of art, is a featured artist in the exhibition Field of Color: Seven Contemporary Artists, scheduled for display at the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi September 19 through December. 28, 2008. Works featured represent different regions of the state of Texas.

John Williams, chaplain, has been elected to membership on the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Alumni Board. He attended the national conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators in San Diego, Calif., in February and led a workshop, “Can You Hear Me Now? A Biblical Model for Thinking About Ministry with Young Adults” Alissa King ’10 and Courtney Mullins ’10, both members of the Austin College ACtivators youth ministry team, assisted.

Ivette Vargas, assistant professor of religious studies, presented “Positive Stigma: Disease, Tibetans, and Religious Experience” in November 2007 at the American Academy of Religion, Religion in South Asia Section (RISA) meeting in San Diego, California. The presentation was part of the panel “Illness and Practice: Subjectivity and Community in Four South Asian Religious Traditions.” Vargas presented “Recognizing the Demons and the Buddhas: Healing, Buddhism, and Environmental Awareness” at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church in Lubbock, Texas, in November 2007. She also presented “How Prominent Are Women in Buddhism?: Leaders, Teachers, and the Future of Ordained Nuns” in October 2007 for the conference series “Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Words and Worsk,” co-sponsored by Cornell University and Namgyal Monastery Institute for Buddhist Studies, Ithaca, New York. Vargas also appeared in a Promedium Productions DVD series, Psychology of Religion, in which a number of academics in the U.S. were interviewed regarding the impact of religion on college students.

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The Classics Go High Tech

Jim Johnson, professor of classics, and Marsha McCoy, visiting assistant professor of Latin, attended a summer workshop at Bowdoin College in Maine to prepare to teach courses in Advanced Greek and Medieval Latin. The courses, in addition to traditional teaching, included weekly podcast lectures from participating colleges. The courses were established through Sunoikisis, a national consortium of liberal arts classics programs that works with the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education to enable classics faculty to incorporate computer technology into their teaching. Tests were created and graded in common for all participants.

Students in Johnson’s Advanced Greek course explored Homer’s The Iliad. Johnson and his Austin College students met in class sessions to translate the text, then each week met online with students and faculty from consortium colleges for a common session featuring a faculty lecture. Johnson said the experience was beneficial for students and faculty, providing all involved a chance to discuss the lecture via chat-line software and a sense that they were part of a larger course. He said the experience allowed him to gain new use of technology and provided interaction with others who shared his enthusiasm for The Iliad.

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Cynthia Manley

Where Are They Now?  Cynthia Manley, Professor of French

The story of a young American woman studying abroad in Paris, France, meeting a foreign love interest named Jean-Pierre, and, upon returning to the United States, struggling with the decision to go to graduate school or return to Paris and marry her French beau sounds like the premise for a Danielle Steel romance novel. In reality, it is just one of many stories from lives impacted by Cynthia Manley, retired Austin College professor of French.      

The pride is evident in Manley’s voice as she goes on to tell how Margaret Ann Splawn ‘88 did return to France, married Jean-Pierre, and went on to make a legendary career as a derivatives broker who could “name her salary,” Manley said. In November 2006, Manley went to visit Splawn in London. “She was so excited when I told her that I would come that I said ‘Anybody who wants to see me that bad deserves for me to come’,” Manley said.

Manley’s list of student stories and memories is probably exhaustive. She joined the Austin College faculty in 1977. “I am basking in feeling good for the first time in 30 years, thanks to not being overstressed and overworked,” said Manley, who left teaching in 2006 to go on disability leave to deal with chronic illness. Manley’s years of service haven’t seemed to lessen her interest in French. She is currently writing about her research of 18^th Century feminist Louise Marie-Madeleine Dupin and her secretary Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Whether retelling romantic stories of a student finding love during study abroad in France or describing how she barely managed to get a group of Austin College students (and their significant luggage) on a train from France to Italy during an extended train strike, Manley obviously revels in those moments. “I love thinking about former students and experiences, especially the funny ones,” Manley said. “I love hearing from former students. No matter how ordinary they think they are, I think they are wonderful.” Manley can be contacted by mail at 618 W. Brockett, Sherman, TX 75092; by email at cmanley@austincollege.edu; or by phone at (903) 361-3666.

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I quickly learned
that it is an expression
of close-knit community interest and nothing to
be nervous about.
— Julie Hempel

March 2008

Feedback?

Discovering the South

Growing up in Michigan, Julie Hempel, Austin College assistant professor of Spanish, often found herself horrified by her mother’s tendency to strike up conversation at the bank, grocery store, or just about anywhere and divulge “unnecessary details about her day or her children,” Hempel said. As Hempel got older, she decided it was just a teenage attitude toward parents and didn’t give it much thought beyond that.

Hempel bounced from Eastern Michigan University to the University of Arizona and then to the University of Michigan earning bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Spanish before securing her first teaching position in 2002 at Austin College. In her first extended stay in the South, Hempel found herself taken aback by questions about her vacations, weekends, and time off. “I quickly learned that it is an expression of close-knit community interest and nothing to be nervous about,” Hempel said.

The behavior also brought her to a revelation about her mother’s antics. “Just a few weeks after moving to Sherman, I discovered that many women here do the same thing and came to the startling conclusion that my mother was not the strange and embarrassing mother of teenagers that I thought her to be, but rather a Southerner!” Hempel said.

The close-knit community among faculty and students has become one of Hempel’s favorite aspects of life at Austin College. One aspect of developing community that she has enjoyed immensely is Communication/Inquiry (C/I), Austin College’s freshman seminar course that pairs students and faculty mentors who remain together for four years. “I love watching students mature and having personal contact with them throughout their four years here,” Hempel said. “Also, the opportunity to focus on different topics I enjoy and design myself each term is really a luxury in a world in which many do the same tasks over and over each day.”

The autonomy Hempel is given allows her to work in her area of interest in the biological and cultural mix of ethnicities or races. Mestizaje originated from the Spanish colonial caste system as a term to differentiate children from mixed indigenous and Spanish lineage from children of Spaniards in the New World, Hempel said. She plans to spend her fall 2008 sabbatical in Querétaro, Mexico, conducting new research on mestizo.

While the congenial nature of the small north Texas town of Sherman might have taken some getting used to, Hempel has long since adjusted and is fully taking advantage of the community atmosphere, academic freedom, and travel opportunities that teaching at Austin College can afford.

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